RadSounds: Musical Cause and Effect App

RadSounds Is A One-Of-A-Kind App

RadSounds is a unique app that will benefit a specific type of learner/user, and it’s important to keep this in mind when deciding whether or not this app is right for your child.

This innovative app was created by RJ Cooper, a friend of the special needs community who creates special software and hardware products for people with special needs. It’s target audience is individuals with severe cognitive impairments or those with physical limits that prevent them from accessing their music in a typical fashion. This app is probably not meant for individuals who are higher functioning.

RadSounds Makes Cause And Effect More Fun

The idea of RadSounds is to take music on an individual’s iPad, which is usually accessed via the iPod section of the device, and make it easy to access. The user can use the app by tapping the iPad screen directly (like I did when test-driving it), but it’s also switch-friendly — let me explain.

The app creates an easier interface, but is also compatible with the RJ Switch, a switch (or button) that can be plugged into an iPad-Switch Interface for cordless access to switch-friendly apps.

iPad Super Switch by RJ Cooper

Want to know more about the Super Switch? Watch a demo here: http://youtu.be/HK8QdV_sNtQ

RadSounds: Simple Menus, Big Fun

There are a few sections within the app that work on basic cause and effect principles, and one area where kids can listen to music within the app without having to focus on cause and effect.

The screen shown above is the Supervisor’s Main Menu, and it is the screen that comes up when the app is first launched.

RadSounds essentially has two separate areas: one for parents/teachers/SLPs and one for students/children. In RadSounds, the teachers are referred to as Supervisors and the kids are referred to as Switch-Users.

Kids Can Stop and Start Songs On Their Own

The “Hear The Current Song” button will play whatever song the Supervisor has selected to appear on the home page. Keep in mind that you can use either the pre-loaded songs within the app or songs from your personal music library on the iPad.

Tapping the “Hear The Current Song” button will start the music and bring up another button that supervisors can use to stop the music. Pressing the “Hear The Current Song” button will re-start the song that is currently playing.

The “Choose Song For SwitchPlay” button will let the Supervisor pick from pre-loaded music or the iPad’s library. The chosen song will play whenever the “Hear The Current Song” button is pushed on the Supervisor’s Main Menu. There is also a Let’s Do It button which will play the selected song while in the Choose Song For SwitchPlay mode. Remember that this is still in the Supervisor section of the app, and that the home page is the Supervisor menu – it’s not for the Switch Users.

“Switch-User Chooses Songs” is a mode in which every tap cycles through a pre-created playlist. Again, this playlist can contain the pre-loaded songs, your own songs, or both!

RadSounds’ Groovy Dancers Add to the Fun

RadSounds also has some groovy dancers that show up on screen to visually stimulate the user – you can also change whether or not a release is required for the song to be changed. For example, touching and holding may or may not change the song depending on this setting.

“Momentary SwitchPlay” allows further cause and effect exploration, as the music will only play when the user is touching the screen. This mode also has the previously referenced groovy dancers, and is an awesome place for kids with severe autism to learn simple cause and effect.

Tap To Start and Stop the Music

“Timed SwitchPlay” is the final mode on the RadSounds cause and effect app, and it allows the Supervisor to choose a predetermined length of time for which music plays when the screen is tapped.

For example if that time is set to ten seconds, every time the user taps the screen the music will play for ten seconds before it stops. To further reinforce the idea, the groovy dancers also disappear when the time limit has passed, and kids need to figure out that tapping the screen is related to hearing the music.

I know a lot of you have been looking for a very simple cause and effect app (and one that is switch-friendly), and I think that you’ve found a great one!

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My name is Jack Kieffer and I'm a blogger sharing my love of technology at blogs like Cool Gizmo Toys, Greenamajigger, and here at Autism Plugged In where I'm trying to make a difference in the lives of children with autism.

Several years ago, I began volunteering with special needs kids, who gave me much joy and an appreciation for life. This blog is my way of giving back. Any proceeds from this effort are used to support my friends with autism. Read more about Jack or connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.